Google announces a new protocol to facilitate commerce using AI agents

Google today announced a new open standard called the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) for AI agent-based shopping at the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference.

The standard, developed with companies like Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart, allows agents to work across different parts of customer purchasing processes, including discovery and post-purchase support. The basic idea is that a standard can facilitate these different parts of the process rather than requiring communications with different agents.

Google said it is also working with other proxy protocols, such as the Proxy Payments (A2P) protocol — Which Google announced last year – Agent2Agent (A2A), and Model Context Protocol (MCP). The company specified that agents and businesses can pick and choose specific extensions to the protocol that suit their needs.

The company said it will soon use UCP for Google’s eligible product listings in AI mode in search and Gemini apps to allow shoppers to check directly with US-based retailers while searching for a product. Users will be able to pay using Google Pay and pass shipping information saved in Google Wallet. Google said it will soon support PayPal as a payment option.

“This is one of the really exciting parts of dealerships,” said Toby Lutke, CEO and founder of Shopify. “It’s really good at finding people with specific interests and finding the perfect product for them. For example, I would have never looked for this product, but somehow it found me on the other side. That kind of serendipity is where the best commerce happens.”

Notably, Shopify also unveiled a similar integration with Microsoft Copilot for shopping today to allow customers to easily check the flow of the conversation.

In another consumer-facing change, Google said it will now allow brands to offer a special discount to users as they search for a product recommendation when using AI mode. For example, if you’re searching for a rug with a query like “I’m looking for a modern, stylish rug for a busy dining room. I host a lot of dinner parties, so I want something that’s easy to clean,” brands can set up their campaign in a way to offer you a discount at that moment.

The company is also providing users with new data attributes within Merchant Center to make sellers better display their items within AI search surfaces. Companies like PayPal and OpenAI We’re also working on making sellers more discoverable in AI chatbot results. Start-up companies such as Claim company We also work with merchants to showcase their products within AI answers.

Google is now also allowing merchants to integrate an AI-powered business agent within their websites to answer customer questions. The company notes that merchants like Lowe’s, Michael’s, Poshmark, and Reebok are already using the product. Competitors like Meta and Shopify It’s done Explore AI-powered tools For businesses for customer support and communication.

The search giant also announced Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience (CX), a suite for handling shopping and customer service for retailers and restaurants.

Companies like Google, Amazon, Walmartand OpenAI is launching new standards and products to integrate AI into every part of shopping, both on the consumer side and the merchant side. Earlier in the month, Adobe male Traffic directed to seller sites by generative AI increased by 693.4% during the holiday season, though the report did not quantify how much of that traffic translated into sales.